Catching up!!!

I have certainly been neglecting my blog of late.  Hopefully I will get back into a weekly routine of blogging soon, but in the meantime, I'll just give a quick post to catch up on the random happenings in our household...

For starters, I never even posted our Christmas pictures!  Ooops!  This year we decided to brave the winter roads and head back to South Dakota for the holidays.  As always, it was wonderful.  There truly is "no place like home," and every time we go back it is like a retreat for me and a party for my boys.  My parents have a way of just taking care of everything and making things so relaxed and fun-filled.  Every time we go I make a mental note that this time I'm going to be more helpful so that my mom can sit back and relax, but every time we go, my mom has this Mary Poppins way of doing everything without anyone even noticing.  I really hope her "Mary Pippins-ness" is genetic and that those magical qualities start being exemplified in me someday :)  But for the time being, they seem hidden...deep deep down in my genetic coding...because just the idea of cleaning, cooking and menu planning stress me out!  :)  But I digress...  Here are a few photos of our fun stay with Grandma and Grandpa.  I'm mad at myself for not taking more photos, but again, being at my mom's house puts me in this lazy retreat-like daze and I forgot about all of the things I should be doing! :)

My sweet parents with my sweet boys on Christmas Day :)

Isaiah checking out his new LEGO set!

He's so proud that he can build sets all by himself now :)

Natey happy about his new Easton bat, and hoping he will be a big slugger this year!

Dominic and Isaiah finding the treasures in their stockings

Michael investigating his new fly fishing rod

A fun and relaxing Christmas morning opening presents at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

My teenagers playing cards with cousin Elizabeth and Grandma Theresa.

Many hours were spending playing cards around this table over Christmas break.

Somehow Grandma never tired of playing cards with my kids!

She is a saint in so many ways! :)

Grandpa Pat playing a serious card game against Dominic...

Everything is a competition with grandpa!  :)

Dominic wanted to help Grandpa snowblow after a South Dakota blizzard.

We ended up getting stuck at Grandma's house a couple of extra days due to blizzards!

The best place in the world to get snowed in!!!  :)

Another highlight this winter was Nathanael's first Reconciliation.  I can't believe he is old enough for the 2 big sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion this year, but he is and he is so happy about it!!!  It was so precious to take him to out beautiful church and see him in line to go to Confession.  I wish I could have gotten a better picture, but I don't think I will ever forget his sweet face, so nervous and excited, while he was waiting for his turn.  And then to see his big smile of relief and true JOY when he was done---what a gift to a Catholic mother's heart!  He got to light a candle when he was finished, and then I took him and his friend Stevie out for a treat to remind them that indeed, GOD'S MERCY IS SWEET!

A blurry but beautiful photo of Natey waiting in line for confession.

I was sitting far away on the other side of the church, but it warmed my heart to see him look at me as if he needed an encouraging look from his mommy before his big moment :)

A very happy Natey and Stevie as they celebrate the SWEETNESS of God's MERCY!

And last, but not least, this winter has been busy with basketball season for Joseph and Dominic.  This was Dominic's first year playing basketball and he LOVED it!  To be honest, Paul and I were more than a bit apprehensive about the whole thing due to Dominic's past year of struggling with panic attacks.  But he proved to himself and to us that he could handle the stress and aches and pains of playing a sport.  We are SOOO proud of him!!! It was so fun to watch him play because he was so fast and so intense.  One of the other parents who was watching one of the games quickly nicknamed him "the Ferrari" :)  He had one game in particular that I don't think he will ever forget because he was the hero of the game, scoring more than half of the total points scored.  I hope he continues to play in the coming years and that he always remains as humble as he is fast  :)  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Dominic playing basketball this year.  I don't have a great telephoto lens, plus, he probably would have looked like a blurr since he is always moving so fast!  :)

Joseph also played basketball this year and had a fun season.  This year was only the 3rd year that our school has had a basketball team, so the high school team was not very competitive compared to many of the other teams we played.  Joseph's team only won one game, but they had tons of fun and put their hearts into every minute of every game.  Joseph's ball-handling and shooting skills improved dramatically this year and he usually scored a couple of baskets per game.  He was always easy to spot on the court with his hobbit-like curly hair.  :)  Again, I didn't get any good action photos of Joseph playing ball, but thankfully one of the parents with a great telephoto lens took a couple of pictures that I stole off of the school Facebook page :)

Joseph trying for a 3-pointer!

I can't remember if he made the shot or not,

but he sure had good form! :)

Joseph's team was thrilled to be able to play one game at the fancy Carroll College gym.